Voice of the Rivers (VOR) is an expedition-based program focused on the interdisciplinary study of a river from its source to its end. Student team members paddle the river and earn six hours of college credit while taking two academic courses and interacting with a variety of leaders and program managers that support the river, media organizations and conservation groups. This summer Brevard College is once again sponsoring the Voice of the Rivers program. From May 15th-June 2nd thirteen Brevard College students and two faculty members will follow the Rappahannock River from the Blue Ridge Mountains near Front Royal, Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay at Deltaville, Virginia. The VOR Team will travel approximately 184 miles by foot, canoe and sea-kayak with primitive camping each night. VOR students—whose majors include Art, Religious Studies, Environmental Science, Exercise Science, Psychology, Business and Organizational Leadership and Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education—will post daily journal entries, photos and videos of their travels and experiences online using Facebook, blogs and the Brevard College Web site. Expedition faculty leaders are Dr. John Buford and Dr. Resa Chandler.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Day 10 - By Payne

We roughly woke up around 7:15am so we could get onto the water. We packed up camp and had a semi-quick breakfast of granola. We had to get everything together and organized since we had an unsupported night ahead of us. Had to pack out group and individual gear, along with enough water. After everything was packed, we went down to Kelly’s Ford to unload the canoes. After the gear was packed and strapped down, we launched off around 10:15am onto our epic journey to “The Confluence!” It was a sunny, humid day so we had to make sure everyone was sun-screened up and drank a lot of H2O. Half way down, we stopped at a beach-y area with a few trails and a random chair for whoever wanted to use it. John Buford saw another copperhead snake (seen a couple already). We ventured forth around 12:45pm and finally came upon the campsite around 3:00. There were a few rapids along the way and most of us got wet though none of us flipped or anything. I was under the impression that everyone thought the campsite was epic! (And so it was.) It was located right between the Rappahannock River and the Rappidan River converges, so we were able to walk to the point of the two. A thunderstorm appeared to be headed our way so we all set up the campsite with shelter and such. No one cared to stay dry and safe and all of us decided to jump in the water and take a community bath with soap!! Have to get clean at some point. Once that was accomplished, we built a fire and some made dinner. An intriguing game of hacky sack was played as well. It ended up just sprinkling and cloudy; no rain. For dinner we gobbled up cheese bread and spaghetti with TVP/marinara sauce. All of the meals have been delicious. Right after that we had a leadership meeting and then the nightly debrief. That ended around 8:30pm and from then everyone just hung out, socialized and the girls got tattoos! (Some tramp stamps.) There were a lot of frogs all over the place ribbiting like they do best. It was an early night for bed. Overall for that day, we paddled a total of 15.5 miles!!
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